Charity and giving trends at times of Covid 19 saw an upward curve in some countries but several western economies slipped down the graph because of lockdowns, according to the World Giving Index (WGI) 2021 .
The index points out that several countries that have been stalwarts of global generosity in the past decade fell not just out of the top 10 but also even from the top 20. Among them, the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland and the Netherlands saw significant decreases in their Index scores. In their place, new countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and Kosovo showed more generosity and indexed among the top ten.
The Charities Aid Foundation came out with the World Giving Index (WGI) 2021 recently. The Foundation is engaged in producing World Giving Index for more than a decade.
Australia and New Zealand also saw declines in giving trends since 2018 and the Index for both countries remained below their long-term average. However, they remain in Top 10 this year.
TOPMOST COUNTRY
The Charities Aid Foundation said that Indonesia was the most generous country in the world with a score of 69. The country was also top in the last index in 2018, with a score of 59. The World Giving Index showed that about eight in 10 Indonesians donated money this year and the country’s rate of volunteering was more than three times the global average.
ADULTS
The World Giving Index shows that about 55 per cent of the adults across the world helped a stranger in 2020. This is the highest proportion recorded to date in the World Giving Index. This shows that about three billion people helped a stranger in 2020.
HELPING TREND
The index showed that as many as three billion people helped a stranger in 2020 than ever recorded before. The African Index showed a high trend with six of the ten countries in the region helped a stranger. The giving trends is almost the same across Africa, the Index mentioned. This was mainly because of Ubuntu, which is part of African culture. It is part of expressing compassion, reciprocity, dignity, humanity and mutuality in the interests of building and maintaining communities with justice and mutual caring. Georgia, Tajikistan, Iraq and the Dominican Republic are also on top of the table with people who helped a stranger. The country where people are least likely to help a stranger is Japan.
MONEY
In Covid times, the index said that money donation was up across the world. It said that more people donated money in 2020 than in the last five years. It said that more than three in ten adults around the globe donated money in 2020. In this index, Indonesia occupied the world’s top spot. The index said that this could be mainly because of religious giving.
The Charities Aid Foundation said that Myanmar also held the top spot for donating money. This was because of the quasi-mandatory religious giving that forms part of the Theravada branch of Buddhism. United Kingdom, Iceland and Netherlands were also amongst the top countries for donating money. However, a significant decrease was seen in the proportion of people making donations.
PARTICIPATION INDEX
In the Index, the Charities Aid Foundation states that volunteering or participation slightly lowered since 2018. However, one in five adults volunteered their time in 2020, it said. Indonesia again stands top of all countries in volunteering. Tajikistan and Kenya comes next in line. Jordan had the lowest participation rates for volunteering in 2020. China that ranked in last place (125) for volunteering over the ten years between 2009 and 2019 has now risen to rank 73.
CAF
Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) is a leading international charity registered in the United Kingdom, with nine offices covering six continents. The first World Giving Index was published in the wake of the global financial crisis. The Foundation work with partners across industry, government and individual philanthropists to ensure vital funding reaches charities around the world.
